The Story

When you think of hockey, there are a lot of associations—the sound of the skates on the ice, the puck hitting the glass, and the cheer of the crowd. But for many hockey players and their families, the heartbeat of hockey is the life-long bonds of the hockey families they gather with week after week, who in a way, become family thanks to the game.

HOCKEY
=
family

At any “family” gathering, the party is centered around -- what else? -- great food. For Minnesota native and former Hockey Coach, Wayne Kemper and his friends Tim Roche and Tony Ullman, the love of hockey runs deep. Not only because they love the game, but because of the memories of gathering at each others’ homes in high school to bond over food. As they got older, they all played “old-man hockey,” where they’d play and then gather with their families for food and drinks.

It was at these gatherings that Tony started bringing some of his homemade salsa for the guys and their families to try and it was an instant hit, with many commenting, “this stuff is so good you should sell it!”

And so JoMomma’s Salsa was born.

from one tub
to
every rink

What started out as one tub of homemade salsa to share, turned into entire weekends making hundreds of batches of salsa in a one-gallon Ninja blender to take to hockey rinks, where players and their families would voraciously devour bowl after bowl.

Even people who didn’t like other salsa were pledging their undying loyalty to the addictive combination of ingredients.

Seeing the popularity of the salsa, the team of friends took the leap and started making JoMomma’s on larger scale (and with a bigger blender!) so that other hockey fans, and salsa lovers, could get that same sense of fun and togetherness as they gather with great friends and JoMomma’s salsa.

They first moved to producing it out of Tim’s pizza shop in Cottage Grove, Minnesota and then to a commercial kitchen in Hudson, Wisconsin, where it’s manufactured today.

josephine=
jomomma

Named after Tony’s mom Josephine, JoMomma’s represents what’s at the heart of most youth-sport families—the moms and dads who put in countless hours getting kids to practice and games, volunteering at events, and of course, hosting team gatherings.

Tony’s mom, whom they lovingly called JoMomma, was always cooking something for the team to enjoy, which is why they felt it was important to name the salsa after her and to use the salsa to carry on the same traditions of the hockey families around the state.